needaTEAcher wrote:Groovy. It is a lovely pot! The only way I really know to tell quality is to lay hands on it.

Oh, don't get me wrong. This is NOT a quality pot. I bet I only paid about 20 bucks for it. It has a very visible seam running through it, up the spout, handle and all. But it was my first ever teapot, so I still kinda like it.

thank you Mike for your answer and advice. That's great for you about thickness as I've been told thick walls are more for wuyi oolong as they are highly oxidized. Yes the one I linked is surely slip-cast but it looks fine and well made though to me.

Yesterday I've been offered one, and it feels really different from others I bought before. It seems like much greater quality to me, but as I'm a total beginner I don't know, what do u guys think ?My friend told me it was handmade.I send some photos :

zisha teapot low profile

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Inside I can see some "lines" beginning from the pot's center to the sides. And inside it, surface is not really even, there are kind of fingerprints !

The seam running down the handle (at least it looks like one to me) would lead me to believe your friend is mistaken. That's ok though. As far as making tea goes, handmade pots are way overhyped. As collectors items or investments, being handmade is more important. The clay looks fairly decent to me. At 500ml, it would only get used for western style cooked puerh brewing around my place. A nice pot for lazy nights when I can't be bothered to sit and gongfu it up.

I love that pot of yours Anna. Slightly large for my taste, but lovely nonetheless

Soooo, I decided to post a photo of my first "Yixing" pot.

I purchased this many months ago, when I first started getting into gongfu. It's a CCCI pot, about 270ml. Was originally used for light-roasted Oolongs, but is now more for decoration (poor little guy) and serves me as a reminder, now that I am a tad bit more knowledgeable about yixings, to be more cautious.

Cannot complain though, I got this pot for a whopping $15 at Teavana. Definitely served me well as my first pot.

I study at a dealer in Seoul, and I get to work with foriegners here that stumble through. This weekend one guy said he buys a lot from Teavanna and was so very proud of himself. Broke my heart a little.

Well, I am not sure what kind of reaction I will be getting from this, but I actually work for Teavana. I may not be a fan of what the company does, or the quality of products, but if it wasn't for them it would've taken me at least three times as long to learn what I know now about tea. Actually I am lucky enough to have a manager that drinks real tea and is very knowledgeable about teas and teawares. Her and her boyfriend are actually the ones that I go to whenever I have a question about anything tea-related (other than you guys of course ). They have recommended many sites to buy teas, as well as yixings. So I am grateful!

Oh, and so I don't completely lose the topic of discussion here, I wanted to add that last week my boss's boyfriend gave me quite a beautiful pot. I use it for raw puerh at the moment

I study at a dealer in Seoul, and I get to work with foriegners here that stumble through. This weekend one guy said he buys a lot from Teavanna and was so very proud of himself. Broke my heart a little.

I study at a company called GU Myeong Cha (also GU Ceramics). They have stores all over Korea, a puerh factory in China, and a ceramics factory in Yixing. I hope to open a branch in the US. I usually study at the main branch in Jongno, Seoul. Anyone in the area message me, though I leave for 5 months in a week.

GU only works with very high end pots, tea ware, and tea, though they sell for VERY low prices for the quality. Thier whole thing is spreading tea, not getting money. Actually, I often study with the founder/“grandmaster”. I am so lucky!!!

needaTEAcher wrote:I study at a company called GU Myeong Cha (also GU Ceramics). They have stores all over Korea, a puerh factory in China, and a ceramics factory in Yixing. I hope to open a branch in the US. I usually study at the main branch in Jongno, Seoul. Anyone in the area message me, though I leave for 5 months in a week.

GU only works with very high end pots, tea ware, and tea, though they sell for VERY low prices for the quality. Thier whole thing is spreading tea, not getting money. Actually, I often study with the founder/“grandmaster”. I am so lucky!!!